Garrett Eagleton of Jackie Wayne Beef Co. (Photo by Jay Paul)
Celebrating its first anniversary this month, Jackie Wayne Beef Co. is a local butcher and meat delivery service operating out of Hatch Kitchen with a focus on providing seam-butchered products from grass-fed, Virginia-raised animals. Along with founder Sam Casner, the company is led by Culinary Director Garrett Eagleton, who has worked in kitchens from Texas to New York since he was a teen and prepares everything from “Cheffy Beef Packages” to dog treats called Pup Treatos and a spin on sloppy Joe dubbed sloppy Jack.
A rib-eye from Jackie Wayne Beef Co. (Photo by Jordan Hanna courtesy Jackie Wayne Beef Co.)
Richmond magazine: What brought you to Richmond?
Garrett Eagleton: I left NYC after living there for eight years, for the quality of life that Richmond has to offer. I love how intertwined Richmond is with nature. The James River Park System is awesome. Within central Richmond, I’ve foraged for wild culinary and medicinal mushrooms, and in the greater Richmond area, seeing how many great farms are growing incredible produce is inspiring. Sub Rosa Bakery is a major plus, too.
RM: What is a typical day like at Jackie Wayne?
Eagleton: A “typical” week will include receiving a side of beef from Grayson Natural [Farms], and Sam will break down the primals. From there, we begin roasting bones for bone broth, seaming out steaks, grinding the trim, prepping veg to make chili and Sloppy Jack, making Pup Treatos, and drinking a few beers along the way. My role entails developing, testing and costing out recipes for all the prepared foods.
RM: What’s your favorite Jackie Wayne product?
Eagleton: I am very proud of all the offerings we have, but I have to say the Pup Treatos might be my favorite. Making an incredible product from the odds and ends that usually get thrown away makes me feel great about how we are focusing our efforts toward zero waste.
RM: Talk about the bean-filled chili.
Eagleton: Well, I’m from Texas. We don’t put beans in Texas chili, full stop. It’s a meat sauce meant to be eaten with your choice of starch, such as rice, cornbread or the classic, Fritos. Sam wanted to make a chili that was more of a meal on its own, so we developed our recipe that includes beans, making it more on the stew side of things. We call it Can o’ Dinner because of a ZZ Top song called “Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers.” There’s a lyric that Dusty Hill sings that I always hear as, “Well, I’ll be here around suppertime / With my can of dinner and a bunch of wine.” The lyric is actually “bunch of fine.”
